https://nos.nl/artikel/2289609-tu-eindhoven-neemt-alleen-vrouwen-aan-goed-idee-je-moet-even-doorschieten.htmlExcuses for the Dutch source, if you want you can put it through translate.
The tl;dr is that my old University, the Technological University of Eindhoven, will for the upcoming 18 months, only consider female applications for permanent positions. The exception is if the position has been open for half a year. Knowing my old department, my dean is just going to say he's been searching for half a year already when he has a suitable male applicant.
The arguments posed in favour are that especially the Technological Universities (we have 3, Eindhoven, Delft and Twente), have a very male focused network and atmosphere, which discourages women from wanting to apply. IE the only way to break that tendency is with positive discrimination. On the other hand, many people have posed that the women who get a job within those 18 months might be taken less seriously because people might think they only got in on the basis of their gender.
Now I do know that the sentiment towards women is not that great with many men at the uni. Jokes about women are rampant, which isn't that much of an issue, but I've known both professors and students who've made incredibly nasty remarks towards the female students and staff. In how much that is unique for the environment I couldn't say.
Personally, I do agree that more female representation in tech would be a good thing. It's really fucking embarassing how bad many staff and students are in social skills in general, but especially interacting with women. There's a lot of ground to gain there. I don't think this is the right approach though. I'd rather see the current efforts of recruiting female STEM students/staff increase, our current numbers are absolutely dreadful compared to the rest of the world. Positive reinforcement >> positive discrimination imo.
